Editor’s note: Because of a production error, this story did not appear in its entirety in the May 12 edition. We are running the complete story again.
The public outcry over the ouster of tenants at the 73-unit Park Royal Apartments has “perplexed” the real estate agency that manages it, according to a letter to San Mateo city officials.
A letter sent by an executive of Belmont-based Woodmont Real Estate Services Wednesday to Councilman David Lim reads: “Since the renovations began eight months ago and the project has gone smoothly up to this point, for a major renovation project that is nearly a year in the making, we are perplexed that the plan has caused such public stir at this time.”
Lim does not challenge that Woodmont has a legal right to make the renovations since there are no laws on the books to prevent it from doing so.
He does challenge the company’s methods, however.
“To say they are surprised by the backlash is a little disingenuous,” Lim said. “There is a legal way and a right way. I don’t think this is necessarily the best way to do business.”
The executive also challenged assertions made in a Daily Journal article, “Park Royal complex evicts every tenant,” in the Tuesday, May 5 edition.
The Daily Journal reported that some residents were not invited to apply to move into refurbished units while work was being done on the building in which they live.
In the letter to Lim, the Woodmont executive writes: “The paper reported that some of the residents were not invited to an open house hosted last December, which was in part an open house to celebrate the holidays, but also to display a model home that was based on the renovation work (including newly installed washers/dryers inside every apartment). This is not true; a flier announcing the open house was posted on the front door of every resident at Park Royal.”
But Woodmont spokesman Gary Marsh said Monday that it was not a formal invitation and that “maybe some did not get the flier.”
Renovation work started at the complex in September, three months before the open house in December.
When asked directly who owned the complex, Marsh said he did not know.
A check to the county Assessor’s Office, however, shows that the owner is San Mateo-based G.W. Williams Company, which also owns The Arlington on Floribunda in Burlingame and Hayward Park Terrace near Central Park in San Mateo.
A call for comment to G.W. Williams Monday was not returned.
In the letter to Lim, the Woodmont executive also writes: “The Daily Journal inferred that rents at Park Royal were below market rate. Park Royal is market-rate housing. Rents were comparable to rents at similar apartment communities within the San Mateo area.”
Built in the 1950s, the Park Royal has never had significant interior remodeling done, Marsh said.
But most tenants at the Park Royal were paying between $1,700 for a one bedroom to $2,000 for a two bedroom before the renovations.
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Park Royal is now seeking a minimum of $2,468 a month for a one bedroom and $3,198 for a two bedroom.
Lim questions how the company charged the rents it did before the renovations started.
“My question is, how do you justify charging the rents you were if the units were not up to date,” Lim said.
Most tenants at Park Royal cannot absorb the rent increase, according to San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action, a nonprofit that advocates for tenant’s rights and rent stabilization.
SFOP/PIA held a prayer vigil Friday night in front of the Park Royal Friday night, claiming that ownership evicted all of the tenants there in an effort to attract residents who can afford the steeper rents.
Rents in the area have climbed more than 45 percent in the past four years, according to a recent report by the San Mateo County Housing Authority.
The report shows that average market rents have climbed for a one-bedroom unit by 47.4 percent to $2,425 a month in the past four years. For a two-bedroom unit, the average market rent is now $2,702, a 46 percent increase since 2011 and 13.2 percent increase since just last year.
The Daily Journal asked whether Woodmont had plans to renovate the other two G.W. Williams properties it manages locally since the rents are below today’s market rates.
The Arlington in Burlingame has 63 units and rents there are currently $1,800 to $2540 a month for a studio and $2,150 to $2,670 for a one-bedroom unit.
At Hayward Park Terrace in San Mateo, rents range from $1,798 a month for a one-bedroom unit to $2,498 for a two-bedroom unit.
Woodmont spokesman Marsh said he didn’t know whether there were any plans to renovate those two complexes.
SFOP/PIA is calling on local elected officials to enact policies to better protect tenants from no-cause evictions like those at Park Royal received, although Woodmont contends no one was evicted and that every tenant agreed to leave since their leases had expired.
SFOP/PIA contends that low-wage workers are being forced out of the area because their pay is not keeping up with skyrocketing rent increases.
In all, residents from eight of the 73 Park Royal apartments transferred to other units during the project. The complex is comprised of six buildings and renovation work has been done in phases.
The last of the Park Royal tenants are expected to move out by May 31 and renovations are expected to be completed by September.
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